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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Sep 26, 2019; 11(9): 604-617
Published online Sep 26, 2019. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v11.i9.604
Immunomodulatory properties of dental tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells: Implication in disease and tissue regeneration
Oleh Andrukhov, Christian Behm, Alice Blufstein, Xiaohui Rausch-Fan
Oleh Andrukhov, Christian Behm, Alice Blufstein, Xiaohui Rausch-Fan, Division of Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, University Clinic of Dentistry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper with conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Supported by Austrian Science Fund, No. Project 29440 (to Andrukhov O).
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Oleh Andrukhov, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, University Clinic of Dentistry, Medical University of Vienna, Sensengasse 2a, Vienna 1090, Austria. oleh.andrukhov@meduniwien.ac.at
Telephone: +43-1-400702620 Fax: +43-1-400702609
Received: February 21, 2019
Peer-review started: February 22, 2019
First decision: April 16, 2019
Revised: April 24, 2019
Accepted: August 27, 2019
Article in press: August 27, 2019
Published online: September 26, 2019
Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are considered as an attractive tool for tissue regeneration and possess a strong immunomodulatory ability. Dental tissue-derived MSCs can be isolated from different sources, such as the dental pulp, periodontal ligament, deciduous teeth, apical papilla, dental follicles and gingiva. According to numerous in vitro studies, the effect of dental MSCs on immune cells might depend on several factors, such as the experimental setting, MSC tissue source and type of immune cell preparation. Most studies have shown that the immunomodulatory activity of dental MSCs is strongly upregulated by activated immune cells. MSCs exert mostly immunosuppressive effects, leading to the dampening of immune cell activation. Thus, the reciprocal interaction between dental MSCs and immune cells represents an elegant mechanism that potentially contributes to tissue homeostasis and inflammatory disease progression. Although the immunomodulatory potential of dental MSCs has been extensively investigated in vitro, its role in vivo remains obscure. A few studies have reported that the MSCs isolated from inflamed dental tissues have a compromised immunomodulatory ability. Moreover, the expression of some immunomodulatory proteins is enhanced in periodontal disease and even shows some correlation with disease severity. MSC-based immunomodulation may play an essential role in the regeneration of different dental tissues. Therefore, immunomodulation-based strategies may be a very promising tool in regenerative dentistry.

Keywords: Mesenchymal stem cells, Dental tissue, Immunomodulation, Peripheral blood mononuclear cells, Oral diseases, Tissue regeneration

Core tip: In the present review, the complex mechanisms of interactions between dental-tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and immune cells are considered. Potential implication of MSC-mediated immunomodulation into progression of periodontal disease and dental tissue regeneration is discussed.